z28mccrory

iTrader: (7)

Hey guys.

I just purchased a 98 TA to daily drive. The previous owner had installed lowering springs and new shocks all the way around. I dont know much about it other than they are all bilstein.

The car rides extremely bad. Its very rough over any imperfections in the road. The car also feels "loose" all the way around. Going down the interstate, it feels very unstable. The rear of the car seems like its shifting around (almost feels like a mustang with the torque boxes are shot). The car scrapes on even the smallest speed bumps. If the car is going a bit to the right, all you have to do is get on the gas and it will shift and start steering a bit on the left. Every time i grab a gear, the whole car moves a lot front to back.

The only car i have to compare it to is my 99 Z28. It has stock springs, stock shocks, and both sway bars removed, and it still feels many times more stable going down the road, and rides like a dream in comparison.

What option do i have. I have began searching for a set of stock springs to put back on all 4 corners. The car has a lot of miles on it (140k), so i figure part of the instability is worn out control arm and panhard bushings. I plan on putting some tubular ones on it the same time i switch the springs back.

Here is a picture of how the cars stance is. This isn't the best picture, but my car is the white one, and the black one is my friends (his is at stock height) I think the stock stance is a hair on the high side, but i would rather the car sit too high than too low.



Please throw any input you want to into this guys. I have never been much into the lowering and handling thing (drag race guy).

transambroli

iTrader: (4)

damn did it do that on the test drive; that sounds dangerous. It sounds like he didnt realign the rear after lowering check and see if it has an adjustable PHB if not you will need one. And it probably has the regular bilstein shocks instead of the revaled ones which are not good for lowered cars. But if your putting stockers back on just ignore what I just said. With those miles I agree with changing the bushings though

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

With that many miles, and since you just bought it, and may not know the car's complete past history, I would definitely consider ball joints/bushings, and a good front end alignment.

z28mccrory

iTrader: (7)

Well its kinda a long story.

I purchased the car off this board last week. I live in southern Indiana, owner lived in San Antonio Texas.

I flew out Friday night. He picked me up at the airport at 11:30pm at night. I went and looked at the car... signed the papers... and was on my way.

I drove the car ~1200 miles back home like this. It was definitely hard to get used to (and roads in texas are rough as crap)

The car has some obvious flaws here and there (dings, scratches, interior needs some TLC, etc) but i cant really complain because the price was great.

Im just in the process of "restoring" to to how i would like it, and this is one of the biggest things that i have to address.

z28mccrory

iTrader: (7)

Yeah im definitely going to do ball joints and tie rod ends.

I used to work for PA so im probably going to put one of their k-member and a-arm setups in it, or at least the a-arms.

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

Like the others have stated something doesn't sound right. I would check all your bushings bolts and nuts. When you gety ready to upgrade your parts give us a call.

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F-bodySuspension.htm

z28mccrory

iTrader: (7)

So is there such thing as a slightly lowered car that can maintain near stock ride quality and smoothness?

This car also doesn't get traction at all. It has kinda cheap tires on it, but still... the is a STOCK car and it can spin 1st and 2nd. I used to be able to dead hook my Z28 on nitrous from a dig.

JD_AMG

Better yet, you can have a slightly lowered car, with better ride quality than stock (stock kinda sucks).
Good shocks are key.

transambroli

iTrader: (4)

When you lower a car the control arm angle changes which causes wheel hop and makes it hard to hook. You need control arm relocation brackets to fix that.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

First, I'd like to know what springs and shocks are on it. It looks slammed to me, and that's a problem in and of itself. The shocks are a big key and have to work correctly with the springs (if possible, springs could just be so bad it's not).

It's not true that any lowered car needs LCA's, brackets and all that. Some do, many don't. Let's cross that bridge when and if we get to it.

I want to know what's on the car, that's where we have to start. If you don't know what they are, you can call me and I can help you figure it out. Once we know what's on there we can start figuring out what to change.

That said, I'll guarantee you the springs and shocks are the issue. Yeah, it could well use new bushings I'm sure, but some worn bushings won't result in the mess you report.